The State, SC
Posted on Sat, Apr. 02, 2005

Critics assail planned festival

Religious leaders oppose event for gays in Jerusalem

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and GREG MYRE

The New York Times

International gay leaders are planning a 10-day WorldPride festival and
parade in Jerusalem this August, saying they want to make a statement about
tolerance and diversity in the Holy City, home to three great religious
traditions.

Now a number of leaders of the three faiths – Christianity, Judaism and
Islam – are making a rare show of unity to try to stop the festival. They
say the event would desecrate the city and convey the erroneous impression
that homosexuality is acceptable.

`They are creating a deep and terrible sorrow that is unbearable,’ Shlomo
Amar, Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi, said Wednesday at a news conference in
Jerusalem attended by Israel’s two chief rabbis, the Jerusalem leaders of
the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches, and three Muslim sheiks.
`It hurts all of the religions. We are all against it.’

`We can’t permit anybody to come and make the Holy City dirty,’ said Abdel
Aziz Bukhari, a Sufi sheik in Jerusalem.

Israeli authorities have not indicated what action, if any, they might take
to limit the events. Banning the festival appears to be unlikely, though the
government could withhold the required permits for specific events, like the
parade.

Interfaith agreement among leaders of these three religions is unusual,
especially in Israel. Their opposition was initially sparked by the Rev. Leo
Giovinetti, a little-known evangelical pastor from San Diego who is both a
veteran of the American culture war over homosexuality and a frequent
visitor to Israel, where he has formed relationships in recent years with
rabbis and politicians.

Organizers of the gay pride event, Jerusalem WorldPride 2005, said that 75
non-Orthodox rabbis had signed a statement of support for the event and that
Christian and Muslim leaders, as well as Israeli politicians, are expected
to announce their support soon.

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, co-chair of the gay festival and rabbi of
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, a gay synagogue in New York, said the
controversy was another sign that each religion has become internally
polarized between its liberal and conservative wings.

The gay festival, planned for Aug. 18-28, is expected to draw thousands of
gay and lesbian visitors from dozens of countries. The theme is `Love
Without Borders,’ and a centerpiece will be a parade Aug. 25 through
Jerusalem, a city that remains deeply conservative, though other parts of
Israel have become increasingly accepting of gays in recent years. Other
events include a film festival, art exhibits and a conference for clerics.

LRAPER Church Bulletin 02/04/2005
Armenian Patriarchate
TR-34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
Licensee: The Revd. Fr. Drtad Uzunyan
Editors: The Revd.Dr.Krikor Damatyan,
Deacon Vagharshag Seropyan
Press Spokesperson: Attorney Luiz Bakar
T: +90 (212) 517-0970
F: +90 (533) 942-7019
E-mail: [email protected]

ISTANBUL (Lraper Church Bulletin – 02/04/2005) – His Beatitude Mesrob
II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey, said that His
Holiness Pope John Paul II has been a profound influence in his
spiritual life.

The Patriarch of the largest Christian church community in Turkey said
that the dying Pope has made a tremendous impression on religions
worlwide with his outstanding encyclicals on moral, inter-church and
inter-faith issues.

“I was ordained a bishop in 1986 by Catholicos Vazgen I, Patriarch
Shnorhk I and Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan, and weeks after that
ordination I met Pope John Paul II in Rome. Since then, I have met
him personally and with groups, and had the opportunity to pray with
him numerous times. Last time I prayed with him was about one and a
half years ago when he celebrated the Eucharist in his private chapel.
He will always be remembered not only as the beloved ‘Papa’ of the
worldwide Roman Catholic Church, but also, regardless whether other
denominations say it loudly or not, as the leading pastor of
Christendom worldwide. He has been a good and courageous pastor who
fought the good fight. Patriarch Shnorhk of beloved memory and the
beloved Holy Father have indeed been the strongest influences in my
spiritual life. May the Lord grant His servant peace and rest.”

A vigil was held at the Holy Spirit chapel of the Armenian
Patriarchate of Istanbul for Pope John Paul II. The Pope had visited
the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul in November 1979.

The Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church has four hierarchical sees in
the world – in Etchmiadzin (Armenia), Antelias (Lebanon), Jerusalem
(the Holy Land) and Istanbul (Turkey) respectively.

PRESS RELEASE
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
Contact: Information Desk
Tel: (374-1) 52-35-31
Email: [email protected]
Web:

April 24: One and a Half Million Man March

This year, 1.5 Armenians will walk to the Genocide Memorial Monument in
Yerevan, Armenia, in memory of the 1.5 million Armenian victims of the first
Genocide of the 20th century.

In 1915, by official decree, the government of the Ottoman Empire massacred
and deported its own Armenian citizens. The survivors and their descendants
make up the present day Republic of Armenia, and the Armenian Diaspora.

This march of survivors, 90 years later, will take place just 50 kilometers
from the Armenian-Turkish border — the only closed border in all of Europe.

“The April 24 march to the Genocide Memorial each year serves as a reminder
of the death marches. On this year, we call on 1.5 million of our people to
participate in that emotional and grave walk. Such a massive wave of people
will symbolize the magnitude of the crime and the gravity of the act of
genocide. It will make our call for justice and recognition heard even
louder as the world is wondering whether Turkey is able to come to terms
with its history, and move on,² explained Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian.
³April 24, 2005, is the opportunity for Armenians to walk to
Tsitsernakaberd, and other memorials around the country and the world, and
serve as living reminder of the imperative to denounce such extreme
violations of human rights.²

This year takes on added significance as it coincides with Turkey’s efforts
to begin accession talks to join the European Union by meeting European
standards. Genocide recognition is no longer a Turkish-Armenian issue, but a
universal issue and must be reckoned with. Further, this is also the year
when the UN High level Panel has noted that genocide continues to be a
threat, even at the beginning of the 21st century. As such, the worldwide
and mass commemoration of the Armenian Genocide 90 years later, is as much
about condemnation and prevention, as it is about remembrance.

DEPUTY YEREVAN MAYOR CONFIRMS THAT KIRKOROV’S YEREVAN CONCERTS WON’T
BE HELD

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. The student councils of almost all
Yerevan higher schools applied to Yerevan Mayor’s Office with a
request not to permit the holding of Russian singer Philip Kirkorov’s
concerts in Yerevan. Meeting the students’ requests and considering
that everything done in this sphere is done for youth, Yerevan Mayor’s
Office applied to the Manukian LTD, the organizer of the concert, and
received a positive answer at the same time calling on to organize
return of tickets. Arman Sahakian, Deputy Yerevan Mayor, declared this
at the March 31 press conference. He also said that according to
information received from the singer’s producer center, Kirkorov
doesn’t want to perform on tour in Yerevan, either. Arman Sahakian
refuted the rumours spread by the Manukian LTD, according to which
Mayor’s Office allocated 3 mln drams (6.5 thousand dollars) for the
holding of the concerts. “The assistance of the Mayor’s Office was
that it was to provide the security. Henceforth the Mayor’s Office
will carry on a policy, according to which such events may be only
organized by Mayor’s Office by concluding inter-state agreements,”
Deputy Mayor declared.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pravda.RU

Gazprom, Lukoil strike 10-year strategic pact

17:08 2005-03-29
Russia’s top two energy companies, the Gazprom natural gas giant and the
country’s No. 1 oil company Lukoil, signed an agreement Tuesday for a
strategic partnership over the next decade.

Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller and Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov agreed
that the two companies will implement oil and gas exploration and
development projects in Russia’s main gas production region, Yamalo-Nenets
in Western Siberia, the Russian sector of the oil-rich Caspian Sea,
Uzbekistan and other regions.

Miller said the 2005-2014 agreement is “a striking example of a long-term
mutually beneficial interaction between Gazprom and independent gas
producers.”

“Joint use of the capacities and know-how of Gazprom and Lukoil, and of
their labor and financial resources, will support growth of the Russian
economy and help to strengthen the economic position of each company,”
Alekperov said.

So far the cooperation between Lukoil and Gazprom was based on a three-year
strategic partnership signed in November 2002.

In 2003, Gazprom and Lukoil signed a deal to develop a project in the
Caspian Sea together with the Kazakh national oil company KazMunaiGaz. The
same year, the two Russian companies signed a gas supply deal in
Yamalo-Nenets beginning in 2005.

Separately, Alekperov said Lukoil was in talks on the purchase of embattled
oil company Yukos’ controlling stake in Lithuania’s sole refinery Mazeikiu
Nafta, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Yukos holds a 53.7 percent stake in Mazeikiu, while the Lithuanian
government holds a 40.6 percent stake.

Mazeikiu Nafta, which includes a pipeline and offshore oil terminal,
accounts for around 10 percent of Lithuania’s annual gross domestic product.

Yukos, once Russia’s largest oil producer, was slapped with US$28 billion
(T21.5 billion) in tax claims, stripped of its main production unit and is
now on the verge of bankruptcy in what observers see as a politically
motivated attack on its detained founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Assossiated Press

ANALYSIS-U.S.-Russian rivalry on hold over Kyrgyzstan

By Christian Lowe

BISHKEK, March 29 (Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan’s change of power broke the
mould of recent revolutions in former Soviet republics because the
United States and Russia did not back opposing sides and neither
seemed greatly troubled by the outcome.

While revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine were seen as proxy tussles
between Moscow and Washington, in Kyrgyzstan — which has both
U.S. and Russian military bases on its territory — the two were happy
to stand back.

The opposition leaders who took power last week after stick-wielding
supporters forced veteran President Askar Akayev to flee the Central
Asian country said both the United States and Russia could keep their
bases.

“With our revolution the U.S. and Russian attitude to our events has
been very neutral and neither had any envy or suspicions regarding
(the other’s) intentions in Kyrgyzstan,” said interim Foreign Minister
Roza Otunbayeva.

“These two bases are crucial for us,” Otunbayeva told reporters on
Monday. “Russia is our close ally (and) … we want to develop our
relations with the West and first of all with the United States.”

STRATEGIC PRIZE

For Moscow and Washington the presence of the two air bases near the
capital Bishkek did not make Kyrgyzstan a strategic prize worth
fighting over like Ukraine and Georgia, many observers said.

Kyrgyzstan is small, poor and mountainous and, though it has a
Canadian-run gold mining concession, the country has none of the huge
oil and gas reserves of some Central Asian neighbours.

“It is not a geo-politically strategic country,” said a Western
observer, declining to be identified. “It lacks currently the kind of
strategic resources that Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan enjoy.”

A row of U.S. air force cargo planes glisten in the spring sunshine at
Kyrgyzstan’s main civilian airport Manas about 30 km east of the
capital, while the snow-covered Tien Shan mountains loom in the
distance.

Since early 2002, the United States has turned part of the airport,
whose runway was built to handle Soviet bombers, into a base for
operations in nearby Afghanistan.

“It’s actually the best of some bad options for getting supplies and
special gear into Afghanistan,” said defence analyst Daniel Goure of
the Lexington Institute think-tank in the United States.

For Kyrgyzstan, where most people have to live on one dollar a day,
the base means an annual income of millions of dollars.

“NO U.S. FOOTHOLD”

But for Washington it is a convenient location for its supply planes.

“This was not set up as a U.S. foothold in Central Asia,” said another
Western diplomat. “It would be wrong to say the U.S. getting the air
base here is part of a geo-political goal.”

To the northwest of Bishkek lies Russia’s Kant air base, opened in
October 2003 by President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow says the base is part of its contribution to the U.S-led war on
terrorism.

But one Western diplomat said its main function for Russia was to save
face after the United States opened a base in what had been seen as
Moscow’s backyard.

“It is not really operational in an effective way,” the diplomat said.

Kyrgyzstan, which shares a border with China, is a nominally Muslim
but overwhelmingly secular country of five million people.

Moscow and Washington say they are not alarmed by the revolution,
sparked by two rounds of parliamentary elections in February and March
the opposition accuses Akayev of rigging.

If Kyrgyzstan is not caught up in the rivalry between Moscow and
Washington, there is a third and increasingly important player
emerging in the region: China.

Western diplomats in Bishkek said the proximity of China had nothing
to do with the decision to open the U.S. base.

But one analyst disagreed. “(It) provides something for the Chinese to
think about,” said Christopher Langton of the International Institute
for Strategic Studies in London.

(Additional reporting by Michael Steen in Bishkek, Oleg Shchedrov in
Moscow, Madeline Chambers in London and Reuters Washington bureau.)

03/29/05 14:09 ET

MILITARY PRODUCTION SUPPLY TO CSA STATES BY RA MILITARY-TECHNICAL
SUBJECTS TO BE INCLUDED IN STATE ORDER

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, NOYAN TAPAN. At the March 31 sitting RA government
decided, to include in the state order, starting 2005, military
production supply to member countries of the Collective Security
Agreement by the subjects of the RA military-technical
cooperation. The decision was made in order to implement the agreement
on “Main principles of military-technical cooperation among member
states of Collective Security Agreement of May 15, 1992”, as well as
to guarantee the implementation of the Collective Security Council
decision of April 28, 2003, concerning widening of the sphere of usage
of the above mentioned agreement. As Noyan Tapan was informed from the
Government’s Informention and Public Relations Department,
corresponding instructions were given to the RA Ministers of Defence,
Trade and Economic Development, to the Chairman of the
Military-Technical Committee of the Republic, as well as to subjects
of military-technical cooperation.

Karabakh leader blames Azerbaijan for destabilizing situation

Regnum, Moscow
30 Mar 05

“Azerbaijan is destabilizing the situation on the contact line between
the armed forces of Nagornyy Karabakh and Azerbaijan and trying to
advance on our positions, pursuing two goals. First, the authorities
of that country are trying to resolve domestic political tasks by
proving to the opposition that they are ready for war. Second and most
importantly, Azerbaijan is blackmailing the international community
and trying to convince it that the country will start a war if the
problem is not resolved according to Azerbaijan’s scenario,” the
president of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR], Arkadiy Gukasyan,
said after a meeting with OSCE Chairman-in-Office Dimitrij Rupel.

“We are interested in preventing the war. I am sure that the people of
Azerbaijan wish the same. However, the lack of official or any other
contacts with the Azerbaijani side makes the situation
unpredictable. Speaking of the need to create an atmosphere of mutual
confidence, we mean the establishment of contacts – we have to be able
to listen to each other, something that unfortunately has not happened
yet,” Gukasyan said.

Commenting on the situation on the contact line, the NKR president
said that there were casualties and injuries on the Karabakh side
after the recent incidents, but “their number is small”. In different
parts of the contact line the parties are separated by 70 metres to
1-2 km. The Azerbaijanis have now moved 150 metres closer to the
positions, from which they were 300 metres away before.

Gukasyan asked the OSCE chairman-in-office to take control of the
processes on the contact line and confirm the state of affairs again.

YURI MERZLYAKOV: THERE ARE ISSUES THAT SIMPLY CANNOT BE SETTLED
WITHOUT KARABAKH’S PARTICIPATION

Azg/arm
2 April 05

In an interview to Baku TV station the OSCE Minsk group co-chair, Yuri
Merzyakov, stated that the participation of the 3d side in the talks
may become imperative at some point. “There are issues that simply
cannot be settled without Karabakh’s participation”, he said.

Concerning Karabakh’s Azeri population’s participation in the talks
Merzyakov said: “It is Azerbaijan that presents interests of the Azeri
community”.

BARBARIANS IN YEREVAN

A1+
01-04-2005

«It is not a secret for us that in our city trees are constantly being
cut. And all this is done before the eye of the people. We found a
terrible scene near the hotel «Golden Palace» which is being built
near the Victory Park. The sycamores of the pavement which could still
live up to 65 years were cat, and several poplars which were really
object of cutting slipped the eye of the cutters.

It is obvious that this is done on purpose with the aim of destroying
the little left green area in our city. We call to you to stop this
criminal attitude towards our city», this was the letter of Silva
Adamyan, head of the non-governmental organization «Center of
Bird-lovers». At the end of the letter, bringing as witness the photos
sent by her, Silva Adamyan calls us to witness this «barbarian
attitude».